Machine for dressing staves



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LEYVIS S. CHIGHESTER, OF ILLIAMSBURGH, NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOR DRESSING STAVES.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 8,499, dated November 4, 1851.

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, LEWIS S. CHICHESTER, of lVilliamsburgh, Long Island, and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Machine for Dressing Staves, and

that the following is a full, clear, and exact' description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which Figure l, is a side elevation. Fig. 2, is a plan; Fig. 3, a longitudinal vertical section.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

The planing of staves in machines con structed with permanent or stationary knives, has heretofore been att-ended with much difliculty; in consequence of the want of some means of gaging the thickness of the staves, reducing them all to a uniform thickness, of preventing the knives when taking oif a very thick shaving, froml running into the stave and spoiling it, as well as of giving at the same time some play to the ends of the stave while being dressed, in

order to allow of the knives following the stave throughout its sinuosities.

lVith these objects in view my invention consists in planing or dressing staves by means of permanent or stationary knives cutting through a permanent bed, provided with a raised part or throat, on which the planing or dressing is done, the stave being held down over the opening in the bed, in said raised part, by a spring pressure roller or its equivalent, when the knives and said roller are so combined with each other, as that the dist-ance between -them after being set, shall always remain the same-by which means no matter what the thickness of the stave when put into the machine, to be dressed, it must in passing through, be reduced to a uniform thickness, equal to the distance between the knives and roller, all tendency of the knives to'run into the stave is prevented, while at the same time in consequence of the throat or raised part of the bed, the ends of the stave if they be crooked or twisted have room for play.

In the accompanying drawings a, repre sents a frame properly adapted to receive the parts. The knives b, are attached at each end to the adjusting levers c, and the vibrating levers c, are provided with stiff springs c', for the purpose of preventing injury from any sudden force. The distance between the knives and the pressure'roller g,

is varied by means of the screw g', set at proper distances, or any other equivalent means, and is constant after being set in consequence of the connections c, except the trifiing variation occasioned by the stiff springs c. The tension of the springs 7L, which bear on the boxes f, in which the jour' nals of the pressure roller g, t-u'rn, serve to keep both the roller and knives as near to the raised portion or throat i of the bed i of the machine, as the thickness of the stave which is being dressed, will admit of. The adjust-ing levers c are connected at one end at some point (Z, in the are o, the object of which, is, in connections with the slots in the said levers c, through which the vibrating levers e, work, always to present t-he knives when acting on the stave at the proper angle.

The staves to be dressed are fed to the action of the knives by the rack c and segmental pinion Z, on the shaft m, to which a rocking motion is given, the stave being placed on the bed z' of the machine and between the ways n, n.

The principal advantage of the combination described, consists in the saving of material in planing staves which are much warped or twisted, t-he gage being only required at the point where the cutting or dressing is done, that is, the stave is only confined where it is acted upon by the knives, and the ends if warped, have in consequence of the raised partof the bed or throat, an opportunity for play and self adjustment to the action of the machine. Ther staves being fed in by the operation of the rack 7c and segmental pinion Z, raises the pressure, when one stave reaches the throat or raised part z" of the bed, itelevates the pressure roller g, and with it the knives Z), Q, through a distance equal to the difference between the distance between t-he knives and pressure roller, and the original thickness of the stave to be dressed, which difference represents the thickness of the shaving to be cut off. If the bed at the point where said cutting is done, were not raised as at z", the passing through and dressing of a stave which is much crooked, would be attended with ditliculty, as it would not be possible to bring every part of the stave in contact with the bed at the point of cutting, without making the springs h, of so great a tension as to seriously injure the practical operation of the machine.

At the rear end of the machine the drawings represent a duplicate of the arrangenient which has been described, for the purpose of dressing the other side of the stave, 5 the only difference being that the parts are substantially inverted. v

l/Vhat I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,

Dressing staves by means of stationary 10 knives in combination With a pressure roller directly over the cut, when this is combined with the bed constructed with a raised por- -iion Where the cutting is done, for the purpose of allowing a crooked or bent stave freedom of motion While being dressed, substanti'ally as described.

LEWIS S. CHICHESTER. Witnesses:

CONSTIN BROWNE,

ALEX. PORTER BROWN. 

